How often have you heard the phrase "beer belly"?

If you are like most beer drinkers, you "know" beer stacks on the weight, compared to say wine, but you love the taste, and so are reluctant to give it up. Very few people have any clue as too WHY beer stacks on the weight, especially around the gut, and blame it on the CARBS, or the alcohol.

But most "light" light beers save only about 20 to 50 calories per bottle--and some even outweigh regular beers. It's mostly marketing, says Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster and author of The Brewmaster's Table

"If you've tasted only mass-market beer, I'm, afraid you haven't actually tasted beer at all," he says.

Dermot O'Donnell is a master brewer: "I've been drinking beer for 40 years and I'm still relatively trim … in fact, beer has actually got less calories than skim milk and probably only half the calories of wine," says Dermot.

"Beer tends to be an appetite stimulant so people often eat meat pies and all sorts of other unhealthy foods -- rather than eating healthy foods -- and the kind of foods you tend to get in the places that sell beer. The kinds of food they sell aren't necessarily the most healthy kinds of foods," says Melbourne GP, Dr Harry Hemly.

With 7 calories per gram, the number of calories in alcohol is second only after fat (9 cals/g).

The calories in alcohol are metabolised first by the body, ahead of burning fat - which is not desirable if on a weight loss diet.

Beer Calories, Beer Alcohol, Beer Carb Content How many calories in BEER?

Want maximum taste, minimum guilt? Consult our guide to the best beers under 150 calories.

1. Guinness Draught Bottle (4.2 percent alcohol)

Calories: 125 **

2. Michelob Ultra could be the perfect answer for beer drinkers who are health conscious yet do not want to compromise the taste of a fantastic beer. The premium, imported full-strength beer is the world's leading low carbohydrate and low calorie beer.

With this in mind, Michelob Ultra is a refreshing, crisp and great tasting full strength beer with only 2.6 grams of carbohydrates and 95 calories per 355 ml. The average 355 ml beer is significantly higher with approximately 7.5 carbohydrates and 137 calories. Michelob ULTRA Light-golden in color with subtle notes of citrus, this low-carb American-style light lager is made from 2-row Munich malts and European Select hops giving it a clean, refreshing body and finish:

Michelob ULTRA Amber
With a beautiful amber color, this beer blends the aromas of 2-row black and caramel malts with U.S grown Willamette and European hops giving it a full, rich taste and clean hop finish:

ABV 5.0%, 114 calories, 3.7g carbs, 1.1g protein and 0.0g fat, per 12 oz bottle.

Michelob ULTRA Lime Cactus A fruit-infused light pilsner with natural lime flavor and a floral essence derived from the cactus.

Michelob ULTRA Pomegranate Raspberry A pilsner with a berry aroma, raspberry flavor, and a hint of pomegranate.

Michelob ULTRA Tuscan Orange Grapefruit A pilsner with fresh juicy orange notes and a slight pink-grapefruit finish:

107 calories, 6.0g carbs, 0.5g protein and 0.0g fat, per 12 oz bottle.

3. A Queensland boutique brewer made brewing history with the launch of BIGHEAD - Australia's first no-carb beer, launched in December 2008.

Burleigh Brewing Co CEO, Peta Fielding, said BIGHEAD's arrival would be welcome news for men and women across Australia who are conscious of their carbohydrate intake, but love their beer.

"There are a lot of low-carb beers on the Australian market, but only one no-carb - and that's BIGHEAD Beer," said Fielding. "For the past year, our customers have been asking us when we were going to create a low-carb beer and today, we've not only delivered, we've exceeded everyone's expectations with a beer that is truly unique.

We don't know why this hasn't been done before now, but we're thrilled that the idea and ability has been developed by an independent Queensland company."

BIGHEAD is a full-flavoured, full-strength lager that (according to the brewers) is 100 per cent natural, free of additives and preservatives, and has a smooth, clean taste -- with zero carbs and only 88 calories per bottle.

HOWEVER, quite often it is the beers that do not make any claims that are often the best - thats right, many beers are already low-carb, they simply do not make the claim despite being so.

Now alcohol is not a carbohydrate, but when sugars (or carbs) are converted into alcohol, some carbs will remain. Distilling typically removes these.

Zero-carb drinks currently exist however the majority of zero-carb alcoholic beverages are hard distilled liqours, for example Whiskey or Vodka. The reason being they are distilled.

When sugar is converted in alcohol some carbs will remain unless you distill the resultant alcohol as far as we are aware.

Therefore by my reckoning, Big Head must be distilling the alcohol somehow - otherwise logic would dictate some carbs must remain. Big Heads claim has been backed up with independant testing apparently.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This EXTRACT is an interesting article from UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, August 2004:

"However, though the wine industry can't simply label wine as having heart benefits, the low-carb and no-carb claims on alcoholic beverages are legal--so long as the labels don't actually say that they help you lose weight. But, in fact, the terms are now irrevocably linked in most people's minds (especially young people's minds) to "weight loss," "Atkins diet," or even "better for you." "Cut carbs, lose weight," many people now think. "Low-carb" has somehow come to mean "healthy." Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to alcohol--and no subject could be more confused and confusing than the effect of alcoholic beverages on weight.

Knowables and variables

Scientists have not been able to tie alcohol consumption consistently to weight gain. Some studies have found that drinking beer or spirits, for instance, increases waist-to-hip ratio, while some have found no relationship at all. One study showed that among female twins, body fat actually decreases with increasing alcohol consumption. Other researchers have also found that heavy drinking reduces body fat, but still others point to evidence that it raises the risk of becoming overweight or obese. There may never be a simple answer, since there are so many variables. For example:

• Genes affect how the body processes alcohol.

• What you eat is important--if you consume a lot of cheese or other high-calorie snacks while drinking, you'll most likely gain weight.

• People who drink a lot may gain weight whether they drink beer, wine, or spirits.

• But if you drink a lot and the alcohol replaces food and other beverages, you may lose weight, as some alcoholics do.

• People in studies are prone to under-report how much they drink, rendering many findings unreliable.

The mysteries of alcohol and carbs

Still, sensibly enough, the first thing nearly all weight-loss plans require is that you stop drinking. This is because alcoholic beverages give you calories without nutrition.

Alcohol itself is high in calories--7 calories per gram, almost as much as fat (9 calories per gram) and more than carbs or protein (about 4 per gram). Here are some things you should know about alcohol and nutrition-- facts that run counter to what many people believe:

• Alcoholic beverages all contain calories, and most of the calories come from the alcohol. (We are speaking about straight spirits, wine, or beer--not mixed drinks made with added ingredients, which can bring calories to, well, staggering levels.)

• Alcohol is not a carbohydrate.

• Your body processes alcohol first, before fat, protein, or carbs. Thus drinking slows down the burning of fat. This could account for the weight gain seen in some studies.

• Hard liquor is distilled and thus contains no carbohydrates. The "Zero Carb" campaign for vodka and whiskey is baloney and may encourage mindless consumption. It's like bragging that a candy bar is "cholesterol-free."

• When grapes are made into wine, most of the fruit sugars (carbs) convert to alcohol, but a few carbs remain. A 5-ounce glass of wine typically contains 110 calories, 5 grams of carbohydrates, and about 13 grams of alcohol (which accounts for 91 of the calories). A 5-ounce glass of wine supplies roughly the same amount of alcohol and number of calories as a 12-ounce light beer or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits.

• Beer, too, contains carbohydrates. The "new" low-carb beers are not new at all, though this type of beer does indeed have fewer carbs. Low-carb beers are simply the old light beers with a new label and ad campaign. The old Miller Lite has 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs in 12 ounces. The "low-carb" Michelob Ultra has 96 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs. Coors Lite has 102 calories and 5 grams of carbs. The differences are tiny--hardly worth mentioning. In contrast, a regular beer has 13 grams of carbs and 150 calories.

What it all boils down to

In spite of the strong implication that "low-carb" somehow means low-calorie, and that low-carb foods in general can help you lose weight--or, indeed, that they are "health foods"--there's no evidence this is so, and particularly not when it comes to beer, wine, and liquor. Alcoholic beverages have calories because alcohol has a lot of calories--not because of carbs. The implication that low-carb beers and wine or carb-free spirits are a boon on a weight-loss program is simply deceptive advertising."

UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, August 2004